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Jade and Fire
A Smothering Wasteland China, once the world's most populous country with a population with 800 million people, is now the face of an alien world. Where once stood great monuments and mighty palaces, now lie glowing fields of green crystals, slowly growing as they feed on the Earth for nourishment. The charred earth is covered with a layer of ash, remains of what was once a thriving civilization. The sky is a dark gray churning mass, blocking out every last ray of sunshine, blanketing the world below in darkness. Scattered everywhere are little black lumps, the last remains of its former inhabitants. In the distance, a mushroom cloud slowly rises as winds whip up sandstorms, which last for days on end. The air alone is lethal to anyone who breathes it, and the black rain simply adds to their torture as their skin is burnt away. Welcome to China, the Last Hell on Earth. Mutually Assured Destruction Many have speculated that Capitalism and Communism are opposing ends of the spectrum, that neither can live while the other survives. The most extreme of such speculations is the theory of Mutually Assured Destruction, where both will completely annihilate each other in the quest for victory. The Chinese Civil War was startling proof that M.A.D. is a real possibility. Both thought that Jade was the answer to all their woes, both developed the most powerful weapon ever known to mankind, and both used it. In five months, China's population was reduced from 770 million to 5 million, her cities were razed to the ground, her skies darkened from ash. For the few who survived, many wished that they were dead. Yet amidst all the death and destruction, there was hope. With Red and Blue China all but completely destroyed, a new power came to the throne. Led by a mysterious person known only as the Viceroy, the Atomic Kingdom of China rose from the ashes and provided the last few survivors with food, shelter and, most importantly, hope. As the last survivors were picked up, the Atomic Kingdom of China set its eyes on a new goal; revenge for those whom have fallen. After the Civil War, there was almost nothing left. No tanks, no vehicles and no people to fight with. Massing a military of any scale would be an impossible feat, and yet Atomic China did it. With only a fraction of China's once enormous population, the Atomic Kingdom turned to the only option left; clones. With cloning, population was no issue, so long as there was enough food to feed them. Next came the problem of fuel; with no gasoline to speak of, powering war machines was a near impossibility, yet somehow, some way, the Chinese were able to create cutting edge war machines with a highly unstable fuel source; Jade itself. With a renewed vengeance, Atomic China seeks to punish those who have brought disaster down on China. The other great aim of the Atomic Kingdom of China was to escape the confines of the small blue-green planet, where apocalypse, they thought, was just around the next corner. With the power of Jade and revolutionary technology, their fleet of twenty starships stand at the ready, ready to depart for a new planet on the shortest of notice where they hope, salvation lies. Order of All Under Heaven The Chinese, since the days of the Emperors to the Chinese Civil War, have always been an orderly people with a love of bureaucracy. Even with the country reduced to ashes and most of the people dead, the Chinese still feel it necessary to organise themselves. Every person knows their place, and the coloured uniforms remind them. The top rank is that of the Atomic Emperor. He really doesn't exist; his office mostly exists simply to prevent the nation from being named the considerably less impressive sounding "Atomic Viceroyalty of China". Despite this, he has his throne on the very peak of Tai Shan, where no one can enter lest they disrespect the entire Kingdom. This is also because his throne is made of pure Jade, and along with decorative sculptures made of atomic glass means the chamber is incredibly radioactive and will kill a man in seconds. Below him is the Viceroy. While the Viceroy is better described elsewhere, his office includes the Kingdom's highest authorities: its top officials, scientists, adminstrators, and military leaders, who report directly to the Viceroy. Their uniform is a yellow tunic. The Eunuchs are the most tragic caste, but run most of the kingdom. The office is composed of rescued victims of the Civil War that are too mutated to do anything else. As they can't fight, and they're forbidden from breeding, all they can do is be desk hugging officials. On the plus side, they're the most luxuriated of the Kingdom's people, as compensation for their condition and the fact that they will never leave Earth. The most skilled become commanders of Starfleet ships; if they're lucky, they can walk to any decks; if they're unlucky they're ladled onto the main computer and connected with wires. Eunuchs, if they can wear one, have a red tunic for their uniform. The Nobles are men and women who, against all odds, survived the bombs and remained fertile. They are the single most treasured thing the Kingdom values, and the Kingdom will sacrifice hundreds of clones to save one house's worth of Nobles. Because they are so valued, they're practically imprisoned deep within Chinese held areas. Here they keep a strict regimen of exercise and schooling, as well as being fed the healthiest diet the Kingdom can manage. This ensures each Noble is in absolute best health, in body and mind, so they will be in the best shape possible when the exodus happens. Some are already embarked on their "sleeper" ships in orbit (so called because there is so little to do, that they have no choice but to sleep most of the time). Nobles do not have a uniform, and wear whatever is convenient to what they do and what they like. Despite their name, Bureaucrats are anything but pencil pushers. Made of men and women who survived the war, but sterilised by the radiation, they're put to work as best they can, as their full life gives them more flexibility and wisdom than a clone. Most notably, many Bureaucrats volunteer to serve as Noble Officers in the Royal Army when they refuse to go quietly into the Atomic night. Those who decide not to fight at the front become minor officials, usually assisting or being lieutenants of Eunuchs. Bureaucrats wear a blue tunic. Peasants are always clones, and do most of the work in the Kingdom. Whether part of their armies, researching the mysteries of the atom, or operating the machines that copy and produce anything, Peasants compose the vast majority of the population of the Atomic Kingdom. They wear a jumpsuit of the same colour of whoever they directly serve. Many of the remaining Chinese refuse to join the Kingdom. Some do not want their lot in life determined by how the radiation has effected them, while others prefer the freedom of the wastelands to running a marathon each day underground. These people are called Bandits by the Atomic Kingdom, and mercy is not extended. The Viceroy gave everyone who wanted it amnesty, and clearly someone who hasn't taken it wishes to die. Despite the technology and numbers of the Atomic Kingdom, China is a big place, and some armies haven't returned from engagements with Bandits. Anyone outside of China is called a Barbarian, and is treated as such. Last Sanctuaries in Hell Xi'an was the capital city of the old, dynastic China, back in ancient times, up till the end of the Tang dynasty, when it was heavily damaged. During the Chinese Civil War, Xi'an was held by the Nationalists up until 1951, when Soviet forces took the city. Like other cities in China, Xi'an would be destroyed in the Chinese nuclear exchange. Now, within the ravaged, battered landscape of post-apocalyptic China, where an ancient city once stood, is an enclosed biodome, one of the last "truly safe" sanctuaries in China. The Destiny Biodome, as it is known, is a closed, self sustaining ecological system, free from the fallout and radiation that plagues the rest of China. It is home to one of the largest concentrations of Nobles anywhere in the Kingdom, who spend their days in rigorous exercise regimes meant to keep them in peak physical conditions, and who live in conditions that anyone struggling to survive in the wasteland outside would consider sheer luxury. Here, residents have access to clean, uncontaminated water; the food here is far better than anything one might be able to scavenge outside; here, one lives in a (comparatively) lush environment, recreated from whatever genetic samples the Chinese could salvage; here, even the lowliest citizen has clone servants to attend to their daily needs. It is not inaccurate to say that the Destiny Biodome, and the other biodomes that have since followed it, are paradises within the blasted hellhole that was once China. Hollowed out into the rock of Mount Everest with the force of an anti-matter explosion, constructed in a staggeringly short time with Chinese duplicator technology, and protected by a nigh impregnable bastion of outlandish defences, the Caves of Jade would not look out of place in a science fiction setting. The inside of the Caves is like a hive, an entire city contained within the rock of Everest. Everything runs like clockwork, maintained by an army of clones, bred and programmed to make sure the miniature city the Atomic Chinese have built for themselves functions smoothly. It is a concept that has also been explored in science fiction--except that here, flesh and blood clones are used, in lieu of robots of metal and plastic. Providing power to the Caves of Jade is a battery of fission generators, similarly buried into Everest’s bedrock and run by clone operators. To make sure that the clones that keep the Caves going--as well as its non-cloned inhabitants--are properly fed, great vats have been constructed to grow yeast, supplied with material brought in from the outside and processed into food for the hungry microorganisms. Once out of the vat, the yeast is then refined into various forms--from yeast vegetables to yeast steaks--before ending up on the plates of the Caves’ inhabitants. Though some might say that "natural" food tastes better, the food is nevertheless palatable and nourishing, and it is still far better than nothing, especially in a place like China, where food is a vital and precious commodity. Water and air, the two other indispensable resources, are bathed in gamma rays in order to kill off any bacteria or viruses, before passing through a series of filters meant to filter out radioactive particles. Any refuse is deatomised into its basic components and reused; resources are a scarce thing in China, after all, so the Atomic Chinese must make the best out of what they have. The majority of the population of the Caves is of course made up of growth accelerated clones; not just personal servants, but also clones to man the yeast vats, the power plants, to keep the infrastructure going. Transportation within the Caves is not all like anything used outside, with the main mode of transport being a system of moving strips that allows the inhabitants of the Caves to get around quickly. As everything is contained within Everest, one need never go outside, and indeed, few of the non-cloned inhabitants ever do. In the waning years of the Chinese Civil War, the Communist Chinese leadership ordered the construction of a complicated system of bunkers underneath the capital city of Beijing, an underground refuge that would shelter the Communist Chinese from anything the Nationalists thought to throw at them, whether bombs, spies, radio weapons, or other, even more esoteric weapons. Communication equipment was installed so that Mao and his inner circle could continue to command the war even from the safety of the bunkers. When the atomic bombs fell, the bunkers protected the Communist Chinese leadership from the blast and then the fallout, and there they hid, planning to eventually re-emerge to crush the remnants of the Nationalists and retake their rightful positions as leaders of their country. There was enough food and water stockpiled to last them for years, and all of the entrances had been sealed when they had fled into the bunkers. As such, it was assumed that no one could get in. That assumption was proven dramatically wrong when a team of Watchmen teleported into the bunker, quickly capturing Mao and his advisors. While the Communist Chinese leaders were summarily executed, the Atomic Kingdom took the bunker system for itself. Using their technology to expand the already extensive labyrinth of tunnels, the Atomic Chinese have since converted the Underground City into the headquarters of the Royal Guard, the labyrinthine nature of the tunnels and many defences making any attempts to penetrate the tunnels a nightmare and the many well hidden entrances allowing Atomic Kingdom defenders to outflank any attackers on the surface. Cloning facilities, duplicator arrays and yeast vats make the Underground City completely self sufficient, and allow the Underground City to support a small army, if necessary. The main defence of the Underground City, however, is its hidden nature. There was very little evidence on the surface to indicate its existence in the first place, and the Atomic Kingdom have taken pains to deal with that as well. Above the dark catacombs of the Underground City, Beijing is a radioactive ruin, still littered with the wrecks of once great buildings, a dead place with nothing to hint at the life and activity that goes on beneath its surface. Mount Tai is by and by far the most heavily protected location in all of China, if not the world, and with good reason--it is the site of the Vault, the name used to refer to the massive vault where the Viceroy resides. Prior to the atomic holocaust, the Vault’s defences consisted mostly of a reinforced blast door and the fact that just about no one knew it existed. Since then, however, it has become a high priority target for any enemies of the Kingdom. To this end, the Vault has been surrounded by an impregnable bastion to fend off any would be attackers. The primary defence of the Vault is an immense, multi layered planar shield, capable of withstanding a direct hit from a proton collider and so powerful as to be effectively impenetrable. This would not be enough to deal with a potential attacker, however, so the Vault is also protected by a formidable array of defences, capable of reducing any approaching hostile to scrap in mere seconds. The one weakness of the Mount Tai installation is that it is extremely power hungry; no less than three dedicated anti-matter reactors power the installation and the various defences that protect it; for safety reasons these reactors are located in heavily guarded secondary installations some distance away from the mountain itself. In theory, so long as it can be kept supplied with power, the Vault could hold out forever; should a foe manage to destroy or otherwise sabotage all three anti-matter reactors, the entire installation will be thrown wide open to attack. First Outposts in Heaven Category:Lore